Joe Root and Ben Stokes sparked a stirring England fightback, brushing aside a fortnight of off-field turmoil and a nightmare start to reach a dominant position by stumps on day one of the first Test against New Zealand.
With their new director of cricket Andrew Strauss in attendance – before leaving mid-afternoon to meet the head coach candidate Jason Gillespie – Alastair Cook’s side slumped to 30 for four in the 13th over. Root’s 98 and a swashbuckling 92 from Stokes added 161 for the fifth wicket and helped reach 354 for seven by the close.
Not even the loss of Jos Buttler, lbw to Trent Boult for 67 off the last ball of the day, could dampen a day when runs flowed at four an over and the spectre of the Kevin Pietersen saga was, thankfully, parked to one side.
Stokes, restored to his preferred No6 position, believes Moeen Ali, unbeaten on 49, can now push on with remainder of the lower order and leave New Zealand’s captain Brendon McCullum further regretting his decision to bowl first at the toss. “It was disappointed to get out so close to hundred at Lord’s but we’re in a really good position,” said Stokes, whose 94-ball effort featured 15 fours and one six. “We got into a bit of a hole in the first 45 minutes but to finish on 354 for seven, we would have taken that. We built partnerships throughout the middle order and hopefully Mo can now bat long with the tail, we can get over 400 and then, with the ball, take a few early wickets.”
Asked about his own dismissal, bowled by the spinner Mark Craig offering no shot, Stokes admitted he could not describe the feeling of missing out on what would have been a second Test century without using a swearword.
Having bagged a pair batting at No8 in his previous Test at Lord’s against India last summer, the all-rounder thanked the caretaker coach Paul Farbrace for pushing him back up the order and filling him with confidence. “It gives me more responsibility with the bat and it’s a place I’m more familiar with against the red ball. Hopefully I can make No6 my spot going forward,” Stokes said. “Paul Farbrace said: ‘Do what you do and everyone backs you, don’t change anything just because you’re wearing the Three Lions’.”
The New Zealand seamer Matt Henry, who claimed three for 93 on his debut, said: “I suppose it was a great start to Test match cricket. From a bowling perspective we did quite well but would have liked to do better. Joe Root and Ben Stokes fought back well but we hung in there, as that last wicket showed.”
Away from the action in the middle, Strauss was visible in his new role, presenting caps to the debutants Adam Lyth and Mark Wood before play and using the lunch interval to provide an update, of sorts, on his progress in securing a new head coach to both Sky Sports and BBC’s Test Match Special.
Before leaving to catch a train – the reason for which would not be confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board – Strauss maintained “a number of good candidates” were interested in the position but, after the bungled sacking of Peter Moores, that confidentiality would remain at a premium.
Strauss, who made several decisions before his appointment, including Pietersen’s continued international exclusion and a near guarantee that Cook will remain as Test captain for the summer, will assure any recruit that the requisite breathing room in which to operate will be granted.
“The new coach is going to be given opportunity and space to do his job,” Strauss said. “He’s not going to be a whipping boy for me or anyone else. I’m there to help and support him and look at things more strategically in terms of our planning.
“He has to run the show as he sees fit and have a good close working relationship with the captain. I have got to help him to do what he needs to do. I am there to help and support him and look a bit more strategically and long term in our planning. If we have that situation we can coexist quite happily.
“But at the moment English cricket does need a bit of clarity. We’ve just lost a coach, there’s no other coach in position. It’s important everyone knows where they stand, including the captains of the various formats, including the players themselves and my job is to provide that clarity.”
With the South African Gary Kirsten and Australians Trevor Bayliss and Tom Moody also in the mix, Strauss will not be pressed into making a quick decision, despite admitting the “clock is ticking” before the first Ashes Test with Australia in Cardiff on 8 July.
“What we’re trying not to do is rush it,” he added. “The priority is getting the right man and making sure his philosophies and mine coexist and then we all move forward together to try to take English cricket to a better place.”
